Damper control



D. L. CAGE DAMPER CONTROL June 18, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 30, 1962 INVENTOR.

DAecY L. CAGE ATTORNEYS June 18, 1963 D, A 3,094,114

DAMPER CONTROL 09, INVENTOR. 0'0 DARCY L CAGE. 11

ATTO 2 N EYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,094,114 Patented June 18, 1963 3,094,114 DAMPER CONTROL Darcy L. Cage, 4325 Artesia Ave., Fullerton, Calif. Filed Jan. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 169,871 8 Claims. (Cl. 126-288) This invention relates to damper units for fireplaces, and in particular to manual controls therefor. In current practice, a conventional type of control embodies a lever of the first class, medially pivoted to an anchor bar spanning the lower opening of a damper hood, and with its upper end pivoted to a connecting link, which is in turn pivoted to the swing-mounted damper. While this form of device is structurally sound and attended with great simplicity, it presents a drawback of some consequence in that the manual end of the lever protrudes downwardly from the hood unit. While this arrangement is not only unobjectionable, but actually desirable after installation in the fireplace, it represents a problem in the matters of shipping, storage, and other preliminary phases of handling. Since the protruding lever prohibits stacking or other compact grouping of the units, it is unduly wasteful of space, and among other consequences leads to unduly high shipping charges. In addition, the exposed condition of the lever lends a vulnerability to shock damage, demanding special care in crating, which further increases the costs.

I have found that by fabricating the control lever in two parts, coupled in such manner that the lower, or exposed end is swingable to a position generally at right angles to the upper end part, the foregoing enumerated difficulties are completely avoided.

It is therefore a general object of the invention to provide a damper unit capable of adjustment to a minimized profile, for packing and shipping. More particularly, it is an object to provide a damper unit having a protruding element when installed, which element is foldable away from protruding condition for packing and shipping. It is also an object to provide a foldable control lever for a damper unit, 'which lever snaps into locked working position when unfolded. A further object is to provide a two-part lever for a damper, with a ready coupling means having spring-action retention.

These and other objects, which will be apparent, are attained by the present invention, a preferred form of which is described in the following specification, as illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the damper unit, with a front face broken away, to reveal the damper control,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the plane of line 22 of FIGURE 1, and showing the damper un-it installed in a fireplace,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view, with parts exploded, of a fragment of the control linkage, enlarged in scale, showing the anchoring cross bar, the control lever, and the connecting link,

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the cross bar and lever of FIGURE 3, rotated through 90 and showing the lower component of the lever folded to a position at right angles to the upper component thereof,

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view of the installed damper unit shown in FIGURE 2, with the damper and controls in solid lines in the open position of the damper, and in broken lines in the closed position,

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view through the lever, taken on the line 66 of FIGURE 5,

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 5, and

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of FIGURE 5.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, there is shown, in FIGURE 2, a conventional fireplace having an outer wall 10, a =backwall 12 with a forwardly extending slanted upper portion 14, defining, with the front wall 16 and its inwardly slanted portion 18, a throat in which the damper unit 20 is lodged. The angle between outer wall 10 and slant wall 14 is filled with suitable material, such as concrete, to provide a curved, downdraft shelf 24.

As best seen in FIGURE 1, the damper hood is of generally pyramidal form, with open bottom, and comprises a trapezoidal, slant, front face 26, and two righttriangular end faces 28, 30, the latter, together with the top edge of the front face, defining a vertical, rear open face of trapezoidal form. The side faces have outwardly extending flanges 32, 34 at their lower edges, adapted to engage the masonry of the fireplace, and the front face has a similar flange 36 at its lower edge, as well as a flange 38 at its top, which latter is adapted to abut a corner piece 39 of angle iron in the flue.

The two end pieces 28, 30 are notched, "as at 40, in an acute angle, at their lower, rear corners, to receive an angle iron 42, having a hinge pin 44, on which the damper plate 46 is swinga bly mounted. 'The damper plate has a rearwardly turned flange 48 at its upper edge, and is of a height to contact and be stopped by the front plate 26 on a line intermediate its height, in which position the throat is fully closed by the damper plate.

The control means for swinging the damper are anchored on a cross plate 50, as a fulcrum, this plate spanning the hood 20 at its bottom, from front to rear, Inedially of the hood width, and secured at its ends, respectively, as by welding, to front face 26 and rear angle iron 42.

Between its center and its rear end, the cross bar 50 is bored to receive a bolt 52, which serves as a main pivot pin for the manual control lever. The latter comprises two separable parts, of which the upper part 54 is channel-form in cross section and is pivotally mounted on the bolt 52, being secured by a nut 56. The lever part 54 is bored at its upper end to receive a pivot bolt 58, to which is also pivoted the lower end of a connecting link 60, the other end of which is pivoted, through a bolt 62, to a bracket 64, extending inwardly from the inner face of the damper plate 46.

The lower end 66 of the control lever is for-med from flat stock, and has a pair of notches 68, 70, in its side edges, near one end, leaving a pair of laterally extending ears 72, 74, at the said end, which function as pivots, for swinging movement of the section 66. For this pivotal mounting, one side wall of the channel 54 has a bore 76, receiving the car 72, and the other ear 74 is mounted in the other wall of the channel, by means of a bayonet notch comprising a lateral slot '78, communicating with a longitudinal slot 80, the lower end of which is directly opposite the bore 76, and represents the mounted position of pivot car 74. The swinging part 66 of the lever also has an upper bore 82, to clear pivot 52 and its nut, and a lower bore 84, for convenient grasping with a hook.

One of the side walls of channel '54 is slotted, as at 86, to provide a spring finger 88, which is inwardly bent so as to lie in the path of swing of the notch 68 of the lever. Thus as section 66 is swung downwardly, the bottom of the notch forces the finger 88 outwardly, and after the section has swung into alignment with upper section 54, the spring finger will snap back into place, effectively locking the section 66 against outward swing. In this position the lever components 54 and 66 become, in effect, one unit, and remain so permanently. In other words, the lower lever part is folded only for shipping a a and storage, and is unfolded only once, at the time of installation.

It should be noted that a locking provision for the pivot ears 72, 74, in their mounting is also provided by both rearward and inward bending of the spring finger 90 adjacent the slot 80. This not only prevents removal of the pivot, but also limits upward swing of the lever part beyond a position at right angles to the part 54.

While a certain preferred embodiment has been shown and described, various modifications will be apparent, in the light of this disclosure, and the invention should not, therefore, be deemed as limited, except insofar as shall appear from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A damper unit for fireplaces comprising a pyramidal hood forming a fireplace throat with an open base and an open rear face, and a damper plate swingably mounted on said hood, on an axis near the lower end of said rear face and arranged to control the passage through said throat, a bracket on said damper plate, a support bar carried by said hood medially of the width thereof, and spanning the said open base from front to rear of said unit, a foldable lever comprising a first component of channel-form cross section, pivoted near its lower end to said bar rearwardly of the midpoint thereof, the side walls of said component having a pair of aligned openings, one of said walls having an L-form notch with one section opening outwardly of the wall edge, and a longitudinally disposed section communicating with one of said openings, the portion of said one of said walls adjacent said notch extending within the channel opening to provide a first spring finger detent, the lower edge of the other of said walls having a longitudinally disposed notch in its lower end edge, the portion of said other of said walls adjacent said latter notch extending within the channel opening to provide a second spring finger detent, a second component, of fiat stock, wider than said first component, and having notches in its side edges near one end, defining a pair of oppositely disposed ears receivable in said aligned openings, for pivot action, said latter notches being of a length suificient to clear the ends of the side walls of said first component, for alignment therewith when swung, said second component having an opening in the region of its notches, for clearing the pivot of said first component, and having an opening near its outer end for engagement by a grappling tool, and a coupling link pivoted at one end to the upper end of said first component and at its other end to said bracket on said damper plate.

2. A damper unit for fireplaces comprising a hood forming a fireplace throat and a damper plate swingably mounted on said hood and arranged to control the passage through said throat, a bracket on said damper plate, a support bar carried by said hood medially of the width thereof, and spanning the hood from front to rear, a foldable lever comp-rising a first component of channel-form cross section, pivoted near its lower end to said bar, rearwardly of the midpoint thereof, the side walls of said component having a pair of aligned openings, one of said walls having an L-form notch with one section opening outwardly of the wall edge, and a longitudinally disposed section communicating with one of said openings, the portion of said one of said walls adjacent said notch extending within the channel opening to provide a first spring finger detent, the lower edge of the other of said walls having a longitudinally disposed notch in its lower end edge, the portion of said other of said walls adjacent said latter notch extending within the channel opening to provide a second spring finger detent, a second component of flat stock, wider than said first component, and having notches in its side edges near one end, defining a pair of oppositely disposed ears receivable in said aligned openings, for pivot action, said latter notches being of a length sufiicient to clear the ends of the side walls of said first component, for alignment therewith when swung,

said second component having an opening in the region of its notches, for clearing the pivot of said first component, and having an opening near its outer end for engagement by a grappling tool, and a coupling link pivoted at one end to the upper end of said first component and at its other end to said bracket on said damper plate.

3. A damper unit for fireplaces comprising a hood forming a fireplace throat and a damper plate swingably mounted on said hood, and arranged to control the passage through said throat, a bracket on said damper plate, a support bar carried by said hood medially of the width thereof, and spanning the hood from front to rear, a foldable lever comprising a first component of channel-form cross section, pivoted near its lower end to said bar, the side walls of said component having a pair of aligned openings, one of said walls having a bayonet notch communicating with one of said openings, the portion of said one of said walls adjacent said notch extending within the channel opening to provide a first spring finger detent, the lower edge of the other of said walls having a longitudinally disposed notch in its lower end edge, the portion of said other of said walls adjacent said latter notch extending within the channel opening to provide a second spring finger detent, a second component of flat stock, wider than said first component, and having notches in its side edges near one end, defining a pair of oppositely disposed ears receivable in said aligned openings, for pivot action, said latter notches being of a length sutficient to clear the end of the side walls of said first component, for alignment therewith when swung, said second component having an opening in the region of its notches, for clearing the pivot of said first component, and having an opening near its outer end for engagement by a grappling tool, and a coupling link pivoted at one end to the upper end of said first component and at its other end to said bracket on said damper plate.

4. A damper unit for fireplaces comprising a hood forming a fireplace throat and a damper plate swingably mounted on said hood, and arranged to control the passage through said throat, a bracket on said damper plate, a support bar carried by said hood medially of the width thereof, and spanning the hood from front to rear, a foldable lever comprising a first component of channel-form cross section, pivoted near its lower end to said bar, the side walls of said component having a pair of aligned openings, one of said walls having a bayonet notch communicating with one of said openings, the portion of said one of said walls adjacent said notch extending within the channel opening to provide a first spring finger detent, the lower edge of the other of said walls having a longitudinally disposed notch in its lower end edge, the portion of said other of said walls adjacent said latter notch extending within the channel opening to provide a second spring finger detent, a second component of fiat stock, wider than said first component, and having notches in its side edges near one end, defining a pair of oppositely disposed ears receivable in said aligned openings, for pivot action, said latter notches being of a length sutficient to clear the end of the side walls of said first component, for alignment therewith when swung, said second component having an opening near its outer end for engagement by a grappling tool, and a coupling link pivoted at one end to the upper end of said first component and at its other end to said bracket on said damper plate.

5. A damper unit for fireplaces comprising a hood forming a fireplace throat with a swingable damper plate arranged to control the passage through said throat, a cross bar carried by said hood, a foldable lever comprising a first component pivoted to said bar, said component having a pair of pivot bearing openings, and a slot communicating with one of said openings, a second component having pivots received in said openings, and swingable into alignment with said first component, detent means for retaining said pivots in said openings, detent means for permanently retaining said second component aligned with said first component and yieldable to unfolding of said lever, but resisting folding thereof, said last named detent means including a laterally-flexible spring finger on said first component arranged to overlie said second component in its position of alignment with said first component, and a connecting link pivoted to said first component and to said damper plate.

'6. For use with a damper unit having a swingable damper plate, a foldable control lever comprising a first,

component of channel cross section having a pivot opening in its bottom, and a pair of aligned pivot bearing openings in its side walls, and a bayonet slot communicating with one of said latter openings, 21 second component of [flat stock, wider than the channel of said first component, and having notched portions on opposite side edges, near one end, receivable in the channel of said first component and having a pair of end ears receivable in said pair of openings, means to retain said ears in said openings, and means to retain said components in aligned position.

7. A device as in claim 6, said second component having an opening axially alignable with the pivot openings in said first component.

8. A device as in claim 6, said last means comprising an integral spring tongue on an end of a side Wall of said first component, engageahle by said second component, and yieldable thereto during unfolding.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,582,889 Abbiusco May 4, 1926 1,631,123 Guy June 7, 1927 2,275,493 Benjamin Mar. 10, 1942 

1. A DAMPER UNIT FOR FIREPLACES COMPRISING A PYRAMIDAL HOOD FORMING A FIREPLACE THROAT WITH AN OPEN BASE AND AN OPEN REAR FACE, AND A DAMPER PLATE SWINGABLY MOUNTED ON SAID HOOD, ON AN AXIS NEAR THE LOWER END OF SAID REAR FACE AND ARRANGED TO CONTROL THE PASSAGE THROUGH SAID THROAT, A BRACKET ON SAID DAMPER PLATE, A SUPPORT BAR CARRIED BY SAID HOOD MEDIALLY OF THE WIDTH THEREOF, AND SPANNING THE SAID OPEN BASE FROM FRONT TO REAR OF SAID UNIT, A FOLDABLE LEVER COMPRISING A FIRST COMPONENT OF CHANNEL-FORM CROSS SECTION, PIVOTED NEAR ITS LOWER END TO SAID BAR REARWARDLY OF THE MIDPOINT THEREOF, THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID COMPONENT HAVING A PAIR OF ALIGNED OPENINGS, ONE OF SAID WALLS HAVING AN L-FORM NOTCH WITH ONE SECTION OPENING OUTWARDLY OF THE WALL EDGE, AND A LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED SECTION COMMUNICATING WITH ONE FO SADI OPENINGS, THE PORTION OF SAID ONE OF SAID WALLS ADJACENT SAID NOTCH EXTENDING WITHIN THE CHANNEL OPENING TO PROVIDE A FIRST SPRING FINGER DETENT, THE LOWER EDGE OF THE OTHER OF SAID WALLS HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED NOTCH IN ITS LOWER END EDGE, THE PORTION OF SAID OTHER OF SAID WALLS ADJACENT SAID LATTER NOTCH EXTENDING WITHIN THE CHANNEL OPENING TO PROVIDE A SECOND SPRING FINGER DETENT, A SECOND COMPONENT, OF FLAT STOCK, WIDER THAN SAID FIRST COMPONENT, AND HAVING NOTCHES IN ITS SIDE EDGES NEAR ONE END, DEFINING A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY DISPOSED EARS RECEIVABLE IN SAID ALIGNED OPENINGS, FOR PIVOT ACTION, SAID LATTER NOTCHES BEING OF LENGTH SUFFICIENT TO CLEAR THE ENDS OF THE SIDE WALLS OF FIRST COMPONENT, FOR ALIGNMENT THEREWITH WHEN SWUNG, SAID SECOND COMPONENT HAVING AN OPENING IN THE REGION OF ITS NOTCHES, FOR CLEARING THE PIVOT OF SAID FIRST COMPONENT, AND HAVING AN OPENING NEAR ITS OUTER END FOR ENGAGEMENT BY A GRAPPLING TOOL, AND A COUPLING LINK PIVOTED AT ONE END TO THE UPPER END OF SAID FIRST COMPONENT AND AT ITS OTHER END TO SAID BRACKET ON SAID DAMPER PLATE. 